Oh yeah, I said it. And no, I'm not talking about the actual person, although I'm sure he was awesome as well, nor am I referring to the 1960 film, the 2004 film, or the Swedish rugby club. I'm talking about the Starz original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. This may surprise you, because at first glance Spartacus is everything wrong with television. It's just another show on a "premium channel" with a weak plot to justify showing its audience spectacularly gory fights, displaying sex scenes whenever possible and peppering the dialogue with profanity to satisfy some middle-schoolers idea of maturity. Except that isn't the case. Spartacus has done more to set itself apart than any show, ever.
First and most importantly, there's its episode layout. Most prime time dramas follow a similar structure. They generally have a main plot that follows the protagonist(s), while having several parallel plots going along at the same time, usually involving minor characters. The plots will advance at different times. All dramas with a story that spans for a season or longer are guilty of this, although some do it worse than others. 24 and Lost both became bogged down with far too many unrelated plots and very little got accomplished in each episode. Dexter often tries to give uninteresting characters an interesting story. True Blood often tries to give interesting characters an uninteresting story. Spartacus is different in that it has the main plot that advances over the course of the season, and no more than one or two subplots that span a few episodes, anything else is resolved within an episode. Each episode foreshadows or blatantly advertises a big event, the episode builds up towards that event while advancing the plots, the even happens, the end. There's never a rut because each episode contains its own story1, the writers don't insult you by giving boring characters more than a couple minutes of screen time, and there aren't any cheap cliffhangers. In fact, there's nothing to keep the viewer tuned in for the next episode except for the outstanding quality of the series, which is more than any other show can say.
It also has an extremely strong title character. Spartacus is a visceral, violent person, but he is still a human being, complete with emotions, limits, and fallibility. He isn't a stereotypical only-fights-because-he-has-to white knight. He enjoys fighting and glory and being a gladiator, he's a barbarian after all. He makes mistakes, he changes, he has internal conflicts. He's every bit as complex as the title character of Dexter. The minor characters are also developed well. The antagonist2 is particularly well characterized, undoubtedly evil, but also sort of likable. He serves as another example of adding depth where most shows tend to get lazy. There's a fine line between believable and boring, but Spartacus gets it right for just about all of its characters, and it helps that all of the actors take their roles very seriously.
Then there are the more juvenile aspects of it. If you have ever found anything offensive on TV that was "too much for you", pass on Spartacus, because I can assure you what ever it is, Spartacus has done it worse. Yes, it does contain absurd amounts of sex and gore. It's a show about Roman society and gladiators, what do you expect? But while it does use these "tools" for shock value, just as often it uses them tastefully and effectively to evoke emotion. Also, as an opponent of censorship of any kind, it warms my heart to see a show that crosses boundaries so carelessly.
Now, take head from ass, and use it for once. If you hurry you can watch the first season before the next one starts.
1: Actually there's never a rut because the writing is excellent, but this helps
2: If you've only seen the first couple of episodes, no, i'm not talking about him.
